The man is 21 years old and owns a chunk of tea plantations plus a fleet of donkey drawn carts to ferry the produce to factories, what is a KCSE paper to him?

I did not get the memo that banned the Chief Justice from wearing an ear stud.

The last time I checked, corporal punishment is banned in schools.

Talk about peculiar habits of Kenians.

Must be slow in the head,...at 21 I was a 3rd year university student,..and that was after cooling off doing nothing for 2 years

...most likely he paid his own fees -so he,s womndering what the fuss is?he,s a "tycoon" in his own respect and earns more than some of his teachers,masomo nikumsumbua ya bure...

And would I let exams come before my freedom? Of course not!

To say that it was simply a matter of nail polish is to be partial and unjust.

The head teacher says that the boy had only few cases of 'indiscipline'. Meaning, he was the 'average boy'.

He is 21 and may be having some cash. This means that he wasn't forced to go back to school.

Isn't this something perhaps greater than 'discipline'?

He sneaked from school. How many students sneak from school as a rite of passage? Sneaking is a behavior even glorified in society. I for one, once wished to enrol in Barbara Kimenye's school! I would like to believe that even the head master participated in this activity.

But apparently he did not! Breaking out of confinement has its advantages. With it society can be assured of entrepreneurs, innovators and leaders.

So the 'indiscipline' in this case was nail polish? Some paint on a boy's nails? And the boy is sitting for his final exams?

I have no doubt that the teacher acted irresponsibly!

Here comes the monster called society; the monster in my head.

Cannibalism at its best.

I disagree, the boy should man up. Life has much harder obstacles than being denied the right to apply nail polish. Yes there is the aspect of freedom, but a wise person chooses his battles. The boy (it feels wrong calling him that at 21)acted out of ignorance.

If I met this boy I would only ask him one question and go my way.
'What is your life's biggest ambition'?
Cz I see a young man whose mind revolves around plantations and donkeys.
Without basic education,a cert or dip at least which serious minded individual would want to work with him when degree holders are crying foul?
Ok, is he gifted in any other way apart from nail polishing? cz that could work in his favour.

But he will still need education to be able to count his money,Maruge realized when it was too late.
Kazi kwa vijana will knocking. I hope he will be ready to get his hands dirty.

@Kratos seems to be grounding his argument on two postulates that I agree with.

First, 'one should be able to endure pain and humiliation for a worthwhile cause'. The other postulate is that 'one should accept even death, for what he/she believes in'.

This 'yout-man' has shown that he espouses these postulates.

Difference arises when we ask ourselves what really is the worthy cause in this case.

Is being a timid conformist with certificates a worthy cause?

If a yout-man believes that there's more to life than money and humble's himself, and goes back to school, he must be allowed to proceed with the exercise of his freedom!

And to show that his pursuit of education goes beyond money; he comes with manicure as a symbol! He tells himself and the world 'Look! I am over age, I can afford manicure, but I still want education!'

Isn't this beautiful? Isn't it honorable?

But no. Our authoritarian culture scoffs at this and instead engages in vandalism. We are quick to lable him, so that our minds can rest with an easy conscience. But are we doing the right thing?

Right is protecting, nourishing, encouraging people to do good and to be at harmony with themselves and with others.

Was the teacher right? Are we right in our judgment?

We are not better than the teacher, and neither are we better than the student. We are the student and the teacher; let us heal ourselves.

Essyk, you say you are not sick 'but' you don't like rules. Yet your counter arguments have betrayed your faith in the same rules!

And some of these rules that you believe in are, 'A man can wear clear polish, but not colored ones', and that 'institutions' must have rules that govern personal expression.

Aren't these kinds of laws oppressive and cowardly?

Surely, we have not managed to solve the BODMAS problem, and so far, we are nowhere near getting a unianimous answer. For the presence of a dictator is immoral.

So why this 'dis-integrity'? This is where I get my diagnosis.

I do not intend to say that the student was right. I intend to say that he had grounds that deserved to be respected and negotiated with. There was no negotiation in this case, and neither do adults and people in authority negotiate with children, students, or their wards. And this is retrogressive.

But when we have our authoritarian ways, we lament; why don't we have good leaders? Why aren't our youth engaged in entrepreneurship? Why can't we be self reliant? Why are we in the third world?

The answer is, because we have oppressive laws.

And we are sick and do not know it.